As the nation comes to terms with the Education Select Committee's damning conclusion that white working-class pupils have been failed by decades of neglect in England’s education system, three primary school headteachers share how their schools have strived to close the gap in educational attainment, for all.
The education sector in England has recently been rocked by the findings of a report published by the Education Select Committee, suggesting that there has been a lack of targeted support for disadvantaged white pupils which has culminated in significant academic underachievement over several years.
Warning that the use of the term “white privilege” is misleading against the backdrop of the reality for disadvantaged white pupils, the Committee said that from early years through to GCSE, A-Levels and university, white working-class children underachieve compared to disadvantaged peers from other ethnic groups.
In the report, a handful of key statistics stood out. Some of the most striking were that at GCSE level in 2019, 18 per cent of white British pupils on free meals achieved grade 5 in English and maths, compared with 23 per cent for the average for all pupils on free meals. Elsewhere for university entry, 16 per cent of white British pupils on free meals go on to achieve places, compared with 59 per cent of black African pupils on free meals, 59 per cent of Bangladeshi pupils on free meals and 32 per cent of black Caribbean pupils on free meals.
The report has highlighted several underlying social problems as blame factors for widening the gap in educational attainment, which include a poor labour market and lack of opportunity in affected areas; a lack of community assets and social organisations; poor local services and transport infrastructure; high proliferation of families who have endured multi-generational poverty; and disengaged parents.
The Committee also recommended several solutions to help increase the standing of education in affected communities, including using pupil premium funding to provide further support; introduce “family hubs” to help parents become more involved in their child’s education; attract higher quality teachers to areas that struggle with staff retention; and find “better ways” to discuss racial disparities.
While the government has said in the wake of the report that it is committed to ensuring that no child - irrespective of background or circumstances - is left behind, three primary schools have long been taking decisive action to ensure that the gap in educational attainment is not allowed to widen.
Mellers Primary School
Mellers Primary School in Radford, Nottingham, is based in an area ranking fourth out of the 326 districts in England of Income Deprivation Affecting Children as of 2020. In addition, Nottingham itself is ranked as the most deprived of the core cities. At least 37 per cent of pupils attending Mellers Primary may be experiencing family income deprivation, in comparison with 21 per cent nationally.
Yet, in the face of such adversity, the school has worked hard to ensure that all its pupils, regardless of background, are able to achieve the grades that they deserve.
Discussing the Mellers approach with The Parliamentary Review, headteacher Amanda Dawson explained that establishing an early grounding for pupils in language and communication and getting parents actively involved in their children’s school life were critical aspects.
Dawson said: “Early language and communication are critical to our pupils’ ability to access the curriculum and make progress, so we have developed our own programme, with carefully trained teachers and teaching assistants providing specific support to individuals and groups of children to develop their language and literacy.
“Our parents are vital to the success of this support, attending open classrooms, parent courses and reading mornings in school. Place 2 Be, our counselling service, provides crucial support for all children at Mellers as and when they need it, at different levels of intensity, to help them become resilient, confident learners."
Furthermore, a key facet of the Mellers way involves inspiring their pupils to aim high and break the 'glass ceilings' that social barriers can impose upon more deprived communities.
"We aim for our pupils to be fulfilled, well rounded, hopeful and brimming with aspiration", Dawson highlighted.
"This focus on aspiration has been sparked by our observation that society can put 'glass ceilings' in place for communities like ours, with the current hostile environment discriminating against many of our families. In this climate, therefore, our work has a strong moral and political imperative for change, and this is a powerful driver for us all."
To give pupils the very best chance of breaking the "glass ceilings" that may hinder their potential, should any learners be seen to have fallen behind expectations, there is a framework of swift intervention in place at Mellers to ensure their specific learning needs are addressed and that they are promptly given the support they require.
“Any pupils that are falling behind are identified quickly, their learning needs are established, and they are given extra assistance to help them catch up. We make sure that children are able to read fluently and develop a love of reading because we know that reading is the key that will unlock the curriculum, learning and opportunities. Everywhere you look, you can see books that entice you to read them.”
In this respect, the Reading Recovery programme has been integrated into the school curriculum to support pupils who need additional help with learning, and it has proven greatly successful.
Dawson continued: “Phonics teaching is an important part of the curriculum for our younger children, and Reading Recovery supports those children who need extra help. In fact, this programme is so successful that in 2019, the year 6 pupil with the highest reading test score had been helped by Reading Recovery when he was in year 1, and that teacher continued to track his progress throughout the years to ensure that he was keeping up. We celebrated his success with huge pride.”
Beaumont Primary School
At Beaumont Primary School in Croydon, South London, headteacher Anne Morrell outlined that their way of helping every child achieve their full potential as a smaller school is through strong enforcement of the school’s motto “no glass ceiling” and a personalised education for every individual child.
Morrell said: “Our motto of ‘no glass ceiling’ is one of our greatest attributes. Children all develop at different stages, and as a smaller school we are able to focus on each individual child. Our teaching style is built around personalised provision for each child, which caters for all their needs.
“It is so important that each child is looked at as an individual, and as a result, all of our learning opportunities are tailored and responsive to our children’s needs. Providing a teaching and learning environment that is stimulating and collaborative helps them to become the best that they can be.”
Morrell added that the school always aims to develop its pupils into the ideal “Beaumont Child”, to ensure they are equipped for the next stage of their learning lives.
“The ‘Beaumont Child’ is a philosophy based around well-rounded qualities and attributes in our students. When children leave Beaumont, we want them to be ready for the next stage in their education, with key life skills already established, so that they can become a resourceful member of society and are well prepared for life in modern Britain. When coupled with high expectations and standards in all areas of school life, we create an environment of high achievement.”
Although the Beaumont philosophy has proven successful, with the school rated an “outstanding” education provider by Ofsted and oversubscribed year-on-year, Morrell stressed that it is still looking for ways that it can improve its quality of teaching and raise attainment levels.
“We are always looking to adopt new teaching methods that can help us improve, and we firmly believe that by working in small groups at all times we can quickly intervene to support children who are struggling, but equally, we use these groups to challenge the more able children.”
St Mary’s Church of England Primary School
St Mary’s Church of England Primary School based in Selly Oak, Birmingham, is set in an area where pupils come from a diverse range of backgrounds that make for a school community where more than 35 languages are spoken.
To help local parents become confident in the way their children are educated, headteacher Stuart Smith highlights that between 2012 and 2018 - a period where the school doubled its intake of pupils - a few new traditions were integrated into school life which were directly tied into its Christian ethos.
Smith said: “Our values are directly related to Christianity and are referred to as the Sunshine Six. These six values set the expectations of behaviour for all our children and are as follows: honesty, courage, forgiveness, respect, compassion and perseverance. We consider these values to be part of life in school as well as out.
“While we are a Church of England school, families of all faiths select us to educate their children, which we feel marks us out. The school is oversubscribed for Reception entry and we have had no withdrawals from either Collective Worship or Religious Education lessons for many years, which enables us to preserve the Christian character of the school.”
In addition to instilling Christian values, the school has also established its own key priorities which help ensure no child is left behind.
Smith elaborated: “Reading is one of these priorities, and we are part of a project that involves collaborating with other local primary schools and the Open University. Positively impacting the relationship children have with reading can establish a lifelong love of books. The project has had a great deal of collaborative support between the schools, and at St Mary’s, all staff share with the children the books we have read of late in order to promote a love of reading and the enjoyment it brings.
“We are also engaging with children from disadvantaged backgrounds to ensure they have the best possible outcomes from their education. Improvements and changes to our curriculum have been central to this, and we also aim to encourage participation in extra-curricular clubs and societies in order to build up self-esteem in a positive and meaningful way.”
Further to this, St Mary’s also conducts exit interviews with its year 6 pupils to gauge whether their educational needs have been met during their time in school, as Smith explained further.
“We also carry out exit interviews with our year 6 pupils to ask if they feel their needs have been met at our school. We meet again in October when they have been at secondary school for a little while to ask if they feel the same. Both feed back into our cycle of evaluation.”
